Age of Ashes (Team Alseta)

Game Master ChesterCopperpot

Netkin makes a timid attempt at shooting an arrow with one of the bows. He struggles to pull back the rope, and, once released, the arrow falls miserably at his feet. "I think - um, I feel like it's not for me," he says apologetically, putting the bow back where he found it.

And then it's time... Time to loot the bodies!

" I will try to focus more on what I can do then, and what I know. And who knows, perhaps one you are aware of knows my father. Perhaps I have other family who can tell me about myself. Even why I have horns." Resa says, though it was more in an attempt to have confidence than any true measure of hope.

She only takes one bow and arrows from the bandits, letting the others pick out what they best felt was able to help them, if anything. Afterwards, she would start searching the cabin and treehouses for any clues.

For next time, given Netkin’s continual recovery and Ellaeaanda’s Assurance with medicine, I’m okay with doing time skips for healing whenever you are in a safe place to heal yourselves. This time we can assume that everyone is fully healed, including the construct. I’ll add a side tangent on the construct in the discussion.

For Exploration, as long as you are using the Search action I can just roll the perception check whenever needed. If it was needed to roll for each individual building, I would roll each. In this case I will roll a single perception check.

As you loot the bodies you find that each of them has both a longsword and a shortbow, is wearing studded leather and carrying 15sp. There are 5 of them, so that’s 15sp for each. Left in their quivers there is a collective 92 arrows. That includes the hobgoblins arrows as well.

The hobgoblin has better equipment on her. She has a composite bow, a dagger, rune-etched leather armour and a rune-etched rapier. +1 armour and +1 rapier She was also carrying a small key.

The small key opens a small locked chest that is sitting in a corner inside the shack. The chest itself contains a 50-foot length of rope, a pair of grappling hooks, four lesser healing potions, an everburning torch, and 400sp. or 8gp each

You each also get a hero point for overcoming the bloody blade mercenaries!

As Cerrus is exploring the back of the shack, he notices how dark it is behind the mossy vines hanging from the hilltop. As he approaches, he notices that there is a cave behind the curtain of moss. Map updated

Sadly, what the party finds is a lot of stuff that Netkin can't use- but at least it means that his attention is redirected to Cerrus. "Did you find anything?"

Ellaeaanda fully replenishes her quiver (take 52 arrows) and helps distribute the other loot, giving a lesser healing potion to everyone except the halfling, who already has the capacity to create several curative elixirs on the fly. Instead she hands the everburning torch to Netkin. “Many objects but few hands. Could you attach this to your machine?”

To Resa she also presents the rune-etched armor—an improvement over her existing leather—and magical rapier. “Bind not to your starknife, for Desna teaches freedom, and elves favor longer blades.”

When all are ready, she follows Cerrus and strides straight towards the cliff, parting the curtain of moss. “Destiny awaits.”
Perception +10 for inside the cave

Cerrus or Ardoinel, do either of you want the composite shortbow instead of one of the shortbows? Difference is on the Propulsive trait that allows it to add half your strength to damage.

Is anyone taking a longsword, or just the bows?

Resa, do you want to take the armour and the rapier?

The cavern inside has a layer of dirt strewn about the floor, soaked muddy in places by moisture and disturbed by the passage of feet. Two tunnels lead farther in - one to the north, and one to the south, to where the tracks lead.

This first chamber is in dim-light.

" “Many objects but few hands. Could you attach this to your machine?”

Ellaeaanda's somewhat incongruous comment makes Netkin chuckle a bit more. "Oh, I agree I'd need more hands!"

"Um, the construct doesn't have any, so unless we strap the torch to it... With a rope... I don't think so? Let me try..."

He attempts to attach the torch to the construct's chest.

Crafting: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27

"Before we go in the cave, do you mind if I keep the repair's kit, Ellaeaanda? I think it could come in handy soon... Haha, more hands."

No longsword for Ellaeaanda.

Ellaeaanda nods in response to Netkin’s question and gestures for him to keep the repair kit. “For you it is.” With her longbow in one hand, she steps into the cave, unperturbed by the dim light. There she points at the tracks heading south, as if to suggest that that is the trail they should follow.

" I will try to focus more on what I can do then, and what I know. And who knows, perhaps one you are aware of knows my father. Perhaps I have other family who can tell me about myself. Even why I have horns." Resa says, though it was more in an attempt to have confidence than any true measure of hope.

Haven't gotten an answer one way or another yet, so I'm just gonna react and if I've made a mistake, please correct me.

Ardoinel's head jerks back towards Resa and he blinks.

"You have horns?!" he asks.

He picks over the loot and shakes his head at most of it.

"I've no need of an extra sword. What I need is time and materials to etch a rune into mine. I'm not the best archer...taking the time to switch between my sword and shield and string a bow to shoot with it is time I could spend casting a spell instead. Though, some foes may be farther away than my spells can reach."

I don't know how useful the bow is to me as a Sparkling Targe guy. I can't really spellstrike with it and otherwise I think I'll generally get into a range where my spells can hit if range is needed, or if they're further away my turn's probably better spent getting to a range where I can cast a spell at them...

He looks at the construct as Netkin tinkers with it.

"Might look more charming on top of its head. Like a miner's helmet!"

Cerrus adds the composite shortbow to his pack. "The extra pull this one needs suits me just fine."

Cerrus indicates the gap in the cave wall. "Is everyone ready to continue our search? Or, do we need to camp a night to prepare?"

Looking over it does mean an upgrade so I will take it. I'll have the updated sheet soon.

When Ardoinel ask about the horns, she unties her scarf holding her hair, revealing a long mass of black and red curls, but most noticeable might be the dark black horns that wave backwards. " I do not wear my hair out often, because of the color and the horns. It marks me more... different."

Resa takes the items with care, and fixes the armor so it fits her better, even if it looks a bit big on her for now. She was not as thin as a normal elf, but still not as wide as a human or half orc.

" Thank you for sharing such items with me. I am still even now not used to people being nice just because they know you. I will try my best to prove worthy your affections. In the meantime, I can look ahead in the cave, if anything was going to bother us it would have surely came now. But still may be trapped." She reasoned, given nothing else had attacked while they searched for items.

"I do not wear my hair out often, because of the color and the horns. It marks me more... different."

“’Pretty’, you mean,” Ellaeaanda casually corrects the tiefling in the way a teacher might reflexively chide a student for using the wrong tense for a verb. “And mistaken motives you ascribe to fate: ‘nice’ and ‘unkind’ are irrelevant to one’s destiny.” She gestures to the southern tunnel, in agreement with Resa’s suggestion. “Foresee what awaits.”

I second the idea of Resa scouting the south tunnel.

Ardoinel is taken slightly aback.

"I'm...sorry for reacting that way, with shock," he says. "I wasn't expecting that, but I'd be a hypocrite if I accused you of something just for being a cambion. I too have dark magic burning inside that I try to turn to good ends, and there've been plenty more cambions who've become heroes than the likes of me."

When Ellaeaanda corrects Resa and says she's pretty, he nods.

"Yes, exactly! Pretty. That hair would make some magnificent-looking braids," he adds.

Netkin

With a some of the rope and wood from the broken arrows and twigs from the trees, you are able to create a sconce to prop the everburning torch in.

We can treat the sconce as a Basic Prosthesis for the purpose of the invention feat. The torch, which should be an Everlight Crystal in the version can remain propped there. I will consider it to be an active source of light as long as it is there.

Are you camping for the night, as Cerrus suggested, or are you forging ahead with Resa exploring deeper into the caves?

Netkin stuffs the repair kit in his backpack - and grimaces. "Oooff, that's heavy. Since we have the magic torch now, Ellaeaanda, do you mind if I give you some of my regular ones? Or perhaps I could even leave them behind..." Getting rid of 3 torches to avoid becoming Encumbered.

He gasps when Resa reveals her hair. "Oooh, they're so pretty!! I mean, the locks too, but also the horns... They look just like a baby goat's. Do they hurt? Can I touch them?"

"I think we could go a little further...? Depends on how big the cave is, obviously... And we can't really know that, can we? But I suppose we could always turn around if things come to it..."

I vote we forge ahead i.e. no camping.

Ellaeaanda gives Netkin a gentle nod, taking his three torches and placing them inside her own pack. “No need to wait when all are hale,” she responds to Cerrus and follows Resa at a distance.

Is someone scouting, or are you all moving forward?

Netkin, I have that you have 3 versatile vials, 2 acid flasks and 1 alchemist's fire left, is that correct?

Yep yep! :)

Once enough wood's gathered, Ardoinel stacks it and places the bodies of the dead bandits on it. Then he sets it ablaze, watching the pyre burn while Resa scouts, muttering prayers to Pharasma, to Magrim and to Alseta to guide their souls to judgment and hopefully to peace.

I had planned on scouting, is it still possible to do so? I have darkvision.

Ellaeaanda waits patiently for the stealthy rogue to return with a scouting report.

Resa

You approach each connecting tunnel, one at the time, to look inside.

To the north, the tunnel leads to a cavern filled with thick strands of spider webs. A pouch of thick webbing trembles in occasional vibrations in the centre of the western wall. A thin stream of minerals drips slowly from the ceiling, slicking the floor in the middle of the cavern and creating treacherous footing.

To the east, you find a cavern containing a bedroll, a small fire, a stack of books and papers and a curious array of equipment covered in a tarp. Trenched behind the tarp, there is a pale half-elven woman wearing dark-green and black robes. She holds a dagger in one of her hands and she is clearly expecting to use it.

After helping Ardoinel with the pyre, Cerrus stands guard while Resa ventures forward.

He whispers to Resa right before she leaves the group. "Be careful. Don't go too far alone."

Resa would normally try and speak to the woman to calm the situation down, but given everything that has happened, she knew it best to perhaps go ahead and move back to the group.

Once back with her friends, she will explain what she saw, including the other half elf. " I do not get the feeling that she is in this cave by choice really, because who just stays in the dark and the damp unless forced too? But I also do not know her either. I think this is the woman we seek."

Ellaeaanda listens quietly to Resa’s scouting report, then looks at the others. “A long-awaited meeting, yet afore its time. Greet her we shall with parley, and fate shall answer.” She moves unhurriedly to the eastern tunnel, allowing anyone who wishes to precede her. When she spies the half-elven woman in the flickering firelight she calls out. “Peace enters with clear heart and open mind. Shared knowledge begets wisdom. Will you partake?” The sage enters openly and unarmed.

Knowing that if the woman in the next chamber really is Voz a fight is near, Cerrus follows Ellaeaanda closely and slips past her to be in front when Ellaeaanda addresses the half-elven woman. He focuses on her movements and armaments, looking for a weakness to take advantage of.

Exploit Vulnerability: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (15) + 11 = 26

Ardoinel looks at Resa with a raised eyebrow.

"I wouldn't mind it. My father's kin and I find the shelter of stone comforting, and damp such as that can keep a fire such as mine from blazing out of control."

When Ellaeaanda calls out to Voz, he regards her grimly, waiting to see what she'll do.

”Peace? Don’t insult my intellect. I heard the fight outside.” She replies to Ellaeaanda.

Cerrus, are you armed as you make your way to the front?

She doesn’t have any obvious vulnerabilities, by due to the darkness, bright flashes of light could give you openings to strike at her. You get personal antithesis for her, and what would be your question for the recall knowledge?

Ardoinel, where are you standing, and are you armed?

“Speak with you we wish,” Ellaeaanda replies, unperturbed. “Difficult if you are dead.” She eyes the half-elf, sizing her up while she waits for those more skilled at diplomacy to act. “The Scarlet Triad complicates all. Perhaps we can help?”

Resa having retied her headband despite her friends kind words of he hair, comes forward to speak as well, perhaps her common way my be better than Ellaeaanda. " Listen, we do not understand what all is happening here. You seem angry at the townspeople if you take up with bandits like those outside. Did they treat you differently because you do not belong? I understand that. I do not belong to either of my parents groups."

Diplomacy rile: 1d20 + 7 - 1 ⇒ (19) + 7 - 1 = 25

Diplomacy (Aid): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18 -1 if Ellaeaanda's bad roll applies; +1 from Nocturnal Charm if that counts as Making an Impression

"I believe it's rather hard to engage in a polite conversation with mercenaries carrying bows, right? They were not... ready to talk."

"I'm Netkin by the way. Netkin Bigpot? Perhaps you've heard of me? Um. I think you know my grandmother. You own her favourite bookshop."

Cerrus is currently unarmed.

Weakest save?

Cerrus speaks up next. "We've followed your path here. Defeat us, and more will come. Talk with us, and there's still a chance you live past this moment."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31

Ardoinel folds his arms and listens. He can't help but admire Resa's earnestness but fears it is rooted in naïveté.

Surprisingly, her weakest save is Will, and I have no idea why that's the case. And her strongest save is Reflex.

Cerrus, feel free to ask a different question, since Ellaeaanda asked for the weakest save as well.

"I don't want anything to do with the ignorant townsfolk; they frustrate me with their willful ignorance. I have no respect for such a brainless bunch. But perhaps you are different. You might be. Given that there is a Bigpot amongst you, I will give you a chance to talk. What do you know about the Scarlet Triad?"

"They're slavers, likely looking for a new way to move people around the Inner Sea region now that Absalom has ceased to be a market for them" Ardoinel replies. "Which is why they hired you to find Alseta's Ring."

“Wise you are, Voz Lirayne—and not alone,” Ellaeaanda adds after the dwarf-elf responds. “Lamond Breachton’s story my companions also doubt. How came you by such insights?” She deflects away from their main goal, trying to put Voz more at ease, but eventually returns to their objective with frank sincerity. “Aiudara we seek, not for glory or wealth, but for duty. Protect them we must from slavers and cultists alike. Our precious legacy must not be misused.”

"I know that Grandma tried to stop you," Netkin looks at his feet. "But she never told me anything about Breachton. Although..." He hesitates. "It never seemed to quite... add up. The stories."

"Is that what you wanted to do once you had your guild? Investigate?"

No post tomorrow, as I'll be travelling back home.

Resa lets the others talk, she as newer to town and had no opinion one way or another but outside what she had been told, so the others were best to describe everything.

"That explains how they would have enough coin to fund me. Market prices raised significantly once official trading was banned,” she replies to Ardoinel’s explanation.

”It doesn’t take much to see how many holes the official story has. People with Breachton’s magical abilities are not known for their selflessness,” she says to Ellaeaanda’s question. As for Ellaeaanda’s comment, she replies; ”I have no concerns for the legacy of those who are already dead. The dead are there for us to benefit from. They are a resource, like any other. And I intend to profit from it.”

Then, her confidence falters as she hears Netkin’s question. ”It would seem like I trusted the wrong person. How much did she tell you about the guild?”

"Nothing. But, I figured, if you really wanted to create one, what would you use it for?"

“A poor choice Calmont was too,” Ellaeaanda mentions idly, like someone remarking that there is dirt on their shoe. “Stole your research he did, and tried to find the aiudara himself.”

She gazes around the cavern with unfocused eyes, then calmly adds “Follow your own logic you should. Slavers seek profit too. From both dead and living they benefit—after aiudara you betray, slavers betray you ... just like Calmont. Corpse or slave you be.” Her faraway voice sounds unconcerned, as if she were reciting dry facts from a textbook. “What arrangement for exchange of gold and knowledge? Are Scarlet Triad here? Are there more Bloody Blades?”

Ardoinel glowers and tries to keep his breathing steady, even as smoke begins to come out of his nose. A glow like coals in a fire comes to his eyes. One who called the honored dead "resources" likely regarded the living as equally disposable, and had no qualm with making the latter into the former.

But he holds his tongue. as Ellaeaanda speaks cooler words that Voz might actually be inclined to listen to. It wasn't right to desire violence, he knew it would only feed the dark fire inside him struggling against his will...but somehow he suspected the only way Voz would be persuaded to abandon her current course was to let the fire she was playing with burn her.

Cerrus, feel free to ask a different question, since Ellaeaanda asked for the weakest save as well.

Special abilities?

"What would I use it for? Imagine the knowledge I could amass with the right resources; the right connections."

"I admit that Calmont was a poor choice, but I admire him for ceasing the opportunity. I might have done the same in his place. As for my arrangement, that is none of your concern. Just know that I have the upper hand on them. They need my knowledge.”

Ellaeaanda, do you want to make a diplomacy check? Last time you were aiding, but it seems like right now you are actually leading the conversation.

Ellaeaanda, do you want to make a diplomacy check? Last time you were aiding, but it seems like right now you are actually leading the conversation.

Ellaeaanda doesn't have the best modifier, but I'll roll it.

"There is nothing more valuable than controlling knowledge. They pose no danger to me as long as I have the knowledge they need. Knowledge that should be kept secret. So I need to ask you this: who else knows about the Aiudara under the citadel?”

Netkin sees the danger in letting her think that she could easily get rid of the few witnesses to her folly right here and right now. "I'm afraid that it's not a big secret anymore. Everyone knows why Calmont left Breachhill for the Citadel after you did. You don't really have any secrets left to fight for... But if you cooperate with us, I'm sure you can still negotiate a lesser punishment. You still have a long life ahead of you to gather knowledge."

Deception (+1 Nocturnal Charm to Lie): 1d20 + 5 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 5 + 1 = 19

Ellaeaanda nods in agreement with the halfling, though she does not exaggerate. “Calmont knows, and everyone he’s told: the Bumblebrasher tribe, definitely; the town council, likely; and all in Breachill within range of gossip. And a hellknight.”

" As someone who was not told much of her past, knowledge is a gift to others. We should share it so they may benefit. Would Desna not teach us to give aid to another traveler on the path of knowledge? It is a journey of a sorts." Resa isn't very versed in all this talk of the town, but it made sense to her to share information.

Cerrus joins in the conversation with the party. "You are drastically outnumbered. A fight means your life is forfeit and will last about as long as a handful of sand would slip through my fingers. Do you seek death? We will give that end to you. Or, return with us to Breachill to have justice placed upon you - perhaps a shorter sentence will be granted in return for information."

Intimdiation: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (10) + 11 = 21